WHEN the best nations in Africa converge on Equatorial Guinea and Gabon next year for the Continent's most important football event, the Nations Cup, Nigeria will be conspicuously missing.The failure of the Super Eagles to qualify for the 2012 Nations Cup has once again brought to the fore the steady decline of the game in Nigeria. It is not for dearth of talents that has made the country to find herself in this sorry pass but a combination of factors. Chief of which is the consistent inability of those who administer football in Nigeria to put their acts together. Nigeria actually bungled the qualification because it waited till the last moment to snatch victory. The Super Eagles and the coaching crew were tentative and not sure footed. Buoyed by a feeling of invincibility, whose source we could not fathom, officials and players of the Super Eagles gave the impression that the Syli Stars of Guinea would be overawed in Abuja. The reverse was the case when the battle line was drawn as the hapless Super Eagles could only manage a 2-2 draw. Only an outright victory could have seen them through. Indeed, Nigeria's main contender for the sole ticket of the group gave the competition their all from the beginning to the end and was fittingly rewarded with it. The non-qualification of the Super Eagles has robbed the country the opportunity to showcase to the world its abundant talents. Some of the players who would have shone brightly, thereby securing better deals in their professional careers, have been denied that opportunity. Money which would have been made through broadcast rights and other transactions, including branding and endorsements have also been lost. But more painful is the fact that the sense of solidarity and unity which such competitions engender in Nigeria, even if for a brief period, will also not be possible. While many pundits have proffered the way out, we feel this period provides a unique opportunity to address the many problems stifling the most popular sport in the country. In this regard, Nigerians must also ask themselves some hard questions. For instance, why has it been impossible to re-enact the superlative performance of 1994 when the Stephen Keshi-led squad that had the likes of Austin Okocha, Rashidi Yekini, Peter Rufai and Emanuel Amuneke beat all comers to the main prize in Tunisia'Why do football administrators rely on the same set of players who seem not to be interested in giving their best for the country' The best starting point is to look inwards and tap into the Nigerian league which should ordinarily, feed the pool of players that will form the core of the Super Eagles. Nigeria must not continue to rely solely on foreign-based players, most of whom believe that they are doing the country a great favour by playing for her. Their lack of fervour for Nigeria's ambition is quite palpable. We salute Coach Samson Siasia for ensuring that discipline reigns in the team. No single individual, however talented, should hold a country to ransom. However, the coaching crew should go beyond instilling discipline to building a team that has character. The current Super Eagles as a team, lacks character and that extra touch to return to winning ways. While we agree that a tree cannot make a forest, it is incontestable that a single brilliant player can make a lot of difference on match day. After the exit of Austin Okocha and Kanu Nwankwo, Nigeria is yet to see dominant figures in the squad that can rally his mates and change the fortunes of the team positively at critical moments.It may also be the time to ask some of the old players who from all indications have nothing more to prove to make way for younger players with energy, talent and the hunger to join the big league and place Nigeria on the football map. In this rebuilding process, the coaching crew must look far and wide and tap into the abundant talents that abound in the country. And that must start now. Indeed now is the time to build and nurture a grassroots talent football pool from which to tap into. No doubt young talents from this pool will possess the zeal to place Nigeria at the top of the football playing countries in the world. Henceforth, Nigeria must always put her best foot forward and not take things for granted. This is the time to return to the drawing board and put in place a workable road map of progress that will return Nigerian football to her glorious winning ways.
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